


Shut You Eyes And Sleep

by BearlyWriting



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Exhaustion, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Prompt: Worked Themselves To Exhaustion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 12:04:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17960150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BearlyWriting/pseuds/BearlyWriting
Summary: "As soon as the lions are joined, Shiro realises the mistake he had made, letting Hunk join them on this mission without forcing him to get some rest. Piloting the lions is a strain, Voltron even more so, and Shiro can feel the energy draining out of Hunk as he struggles to hold himself in place. It tugs at Shiro in a way he doesn’t particularly like. It’s enough of a strain to force Voltron together when he only has his own exhaustion to deal with."For the prompt "Worked Themselves To Exhaustion" for the Bad Things Happen Bingo.





	Shut You Eyes And Sleep

Hunk is still working when Shiro finds him. The pale, fluorescent light of the lab washes a sickly glow over his face. It drips across the wrinkles furrowed into his brow. The dark circles punched under his eyes like bruises.

The paladin doesn’t hear him come in, or if he does, there’s no acknowledgment. Hunk’s hands are moving quickly over the tech on the table in front of him.

“How long have you been working on that?”

Hunk’s shoulders hunch, warding off the question as if it’s a blow. He doesn’t seem surprised though, which means Hunk had heard him come in and was just ignoring him. Shiro isn’t sure how he feels about that. “I need to finish it.”

When he glances up and offers Shiro a small smile, Shiro is struck by how tired he looks. How worn and thin his smile is, as if it’s stretched too far across his face.

“Can’t it wait till the morning?” 

Hunk is already shaking his head. “Every second counts. If I don’t get this done before the flare, who knows how many people could die.”

And that’s the crux of the issue. The solar flare currently threatening the little planet they had landed on a few days earlier - the planet who’s shield had malfunctioned, who’s shield Hunk had promised to fix.

“You don’t have to kill yourself over this,” Shiro says, gently, even though he knows that’s exactly what Hunk is going to do. “Evacuation is still an option.”

Hunk’s mouth twists unhappily. “Not according to the Cilluan council.”

Shiro feels his own mouth pull into a grimace in response. There’s a small part of Shiro, one that he would never show to Hunk, that wonders why they bother to help people who clearly don’t want to be helped. He knows that Hunk wouldn’t appreciate that thought though - which is why he’s currently working on the shield tech for the third night in a row.

“Have you got any sleep since we landed?” Shiro asks instead. He already knows the answer, but perhaps forcing Hunk to say it out loud will make him realise what a bad idea this is.

“Of course.” Hunk has never been good at lying. When Shiro doesn’t respond, Hunk can’t help filling the silence. It’s an old interrogation technique - one that Shiro employs on a surprisingly regular basis - of all the Paladins, only Keith seems content to let silence lie. “I’ve got a few hours.”

“A few hours?” Shiro repeats, flatly. He doesn’t mean it to be accusing, exactly, but the look Hunk shoots him screams _hypocrite_ even though the Yellow Paladin would never actually say it. Shiro feels appropriately chagrined. Still, he knows that his own sleep schedule isn’t the healthiest, but that doesn’t mean that he should let Hunk’s lack of sleep slide.

“Just make sure you get some rest OK. You can’t help the Cilluans if you’re dead on your feet.”

Hunk just nods, already focused back on the task in front of him. Shiro wants to stay, wants to force Hunk to go to bed and get some rest. But standing over the Yellow Paladin all night isn’t going to help either of them, and as much as Shiro wishes he could, he can’t force any of the Paladins to do something if they really don’t want to do it.

He’s their leader, but this isn’t the garrison. There’s not much he can do to force their submission - and he doesn’t want to. So he just offers Hunk his own nod in response and quietly leaves the room. He can only trust that Hunk knows his limits.

 

***

 

Shiro wakes later than usual the next morning. It happens, occasionally, when Shiro manages to get a good night. Still, he feels a little guilty as he peels himself out of bed and changes into his armour. It’s still early enough that most of the others are sleeping, but Shiro has more work to do than any of them - more responsibility.

He considers going down to the lab, to check on Hunk and his shield tech. But Shiro isn’t sure what he’d do if he did find Hunk still working there. Maybe it’s better not knowing. 

The decision is rendered moot when Shiro wanders closer to the kitchen and hears someone clattering around in there, smells something sweet and floury in the air. There’s only one person who would be awake and cooking so early in the morning. Sure enough, when Shiro follows the smell of pancakes into the kitchen, Hunk is carefully setting plates down on the large communal table.

“Hunk?” This time Hunk doesn’t pretend not to hear him. He glances up when Shiro enters the room, and offers the Black Paladin a small smile. Even in the considerably friendlier lights of the kitchen he looks too pale, his face sallow and sunken. “What are you doing?”

“I finished it,” Hunk says, grinning.

Shiro is impressed. He had honestly thought that the tech was unfixable - that the Paladin’s would be strong-arming the Cilluans into an evacuation attempt whether they liked it or not. “That’s great Hunk.”

The Yellow Paladin looks pleased with himself, even if he’s clearly trying to hide it by turning his face down towards the plate in his hand. And Shiro is pleased. Honestly. But he’s less pleased about the fact that Hunk obviously stayed up all night, _again_ to do it.

“Why are you making breakfast?”

Hunk looks startled at that, as if he’s forgotten that’s what he’s doing. He blinks at Shiro, then at the table he’s just carefully set. Shiro watches his lashes cast even darker shadows under his eyes. “Oh...I always make breakfast before a mission?”

“I wasn’t aware we had a mission,” Shiro says, taking the plate out of Hunk’s fingers and setting it on the table.

“I finished the tech. We have to go and install it now.”

Shiro finishes setting the table as Hunk takes the pancakes off of the weird Altean hob. He’s being difficult - of course Hunk would want to install the tech he stayed up for three days to complete, but Shiro can’t help but wish he would take a little nap first.

“Don’t you think you should rest up first?”

“I’m fine, Shiro, honestly,” Hunk says, sounding exasperated. “This isn’t as bad as when we were being chased across the universe by Zarkon, and none of us got a chance to rest then.”

That’s true. But they hadn’t had a choice then, and Shiro had been just as tired.

“Hunk-“

They’re interrupted by the arrival of Lance. He pauses in the doorway, blinking at both Shiro and Hunk as if he’s surprised to see them there.

“Sweet!” He gets over the surprise pretty quickly, sliding into the room and sitting himself in one of the chairs without another glance their way. “You made pancakes.”

“Morning Lance,” Hunk says, sounding relieved at the change in conversation. He starts carefully portioning pancakes onto each of their plates as Shiro takes his own seat.

“Morning. Is something going on? I thought you were working on that shield tech thing.”

“I finished it,” Hunk replies.

Lance looks up at that, crows, “That’s awesome!” Then his smile fades as his gaze flickers over Hunk’s face. “No offence but you look awful, man. Did you stay up all night?”

Hunk’s shoulders don’t hunch, but there’s definitely something defensive about the twist of his mouth.

“I’m fine,” he says, tightly.

The others filter in pretty quickly after that.

“Hunk,” Pidge says, once she’s licked the last of the syrup off her plate. “We should work on that shield if you’re free. We don’t know how-“

“He’s finished it,” Lance interrupts.

“Oh.” Pidge’s eyes slide over Hunk, assessing. She opens her mouth, but Hunk shoots her a look that’s eerily reminiscent of the one he had given Shiro last night and her mouth snaps shut with a soft click, clearly thinking better of it.

“We’re going to install it after breakfast.”

Pidge’s eyes slide to Shiro this time. He nods. There’s no reason to delay the mission, not when he knows that Hunk wouldn’t be spending the time sleeping anyway.

“Suit up,” he says, and tries not to sound annoyed about it. “Meet at the bridge in ten.”

 

***

 

Connecting the new part to the rest of the shield tech goes, surprisingly, according to plan. It takes less time than Shiro would expect for Hunk and Pidge to wire the machinery together. Moving in quiet tandem. If Hunk is struggling, it’s impossible to tell. Finally, he slots the last section of wires together and Pidge sits back on her heels with a triumphant grin, and Shiro allows himself to think that maybe the mission will pass without incident. That maybe they’ll get back to the castle with the same ease and Hunk will get to take a nice long nap and maybe Shiro will let him off morning training so that he can sleep in.

Shiro should know better than to tempt fate like that. 

The trip back to the lions is uneventful. Now that the tech is in place, Hunk seems to have deflated even further. He’s leaning heavily on Lance as they walk. But he _is_ walking and they’re so close to the lions now. Shiro corrals some of the grateful Cilluans out of the way and hustles the Paladins forward as quickly as he can - he’s legitimately concerned that Hunk might get caught up offering to cook a celebratory feast, or give a speech, or _something_ , if they stop to chat. 

They make it back to the lions without anyone press-ganging Hunk into further service, thankfully. But that’s as far as they make it. There’s a rumble, shaking the ground beneath them. For a moment, Shiro thinks that the flare has taken them by surprise, that the shield has failed and they’re all about to be destroyed. It would have a certain irony to it. But it isn’t a solar flare shaking the earth.

“Is that a robeast?” Pidge asks, voice tight.

“It is.” 

It’s big, with a strange, flat head, and armour that shines bright in the too-close sunlight. Shiro can see all of the lions, lined up like targets, reflecting back at him from its wide chest. He has to bite back a sigh.

“OK team, lets deal with this quickly. Form Voltron.”

As soon as the lions are joined, Shiro realises the mistake he had made, letting Hunk join them on this mission without forcing him to get some rest. Piloting the lions is a strain, Voltron even more so, and Shiro can feel the energy draining out of Hunk as he struggles to hold himself in place. It tugs at Shiro in a way he doesn’t particularly like. It’s enough of a strain to force Voltron together when he only has his own exhaustion to deal with.

The others can obviously feel it too. “Jesus, Hunk,” Keith hisses through gritted teeth. “Have you slept at all in the last week?”

“Let’s just get this done,” Shiro interrupts, before it can turn into an argument. They don’t need to waste any more energy not fighting the thing.

It’s not a particularly difficult battle, but Shiro can feel Hunk’s exhaustion dragging at him with every movement. Can feel the weight of it in his head and his stomach like an anchor. It’s nauseating, and he has to force himself to clench his teeth and focus. He can only imagine how it must feel to Hunk.

But they manage to pummel the robeast into submission. They’re working together so much better now. One good blast with the cannon should finish it off.

“Hunk, shoulder cannon!”

As soon as Shiro gives the order, he wishes he could take it back. If Hunk is struggling just to manoeuvre as part of Voltron, he’s hardly going to have the energy to summon a proper blast. But it’s too late. The shoulder cannon materialises and takes aim. Shiro can feel Hunk dragging the last of his energy into the shot.

The robeast shatters with a deafening explosion of splintered glass. Voltron shatters too, twisting apart at the seams, untethered. For a moment Shiro just floats, stunned. The sudden release - the lack of anyone’s exhaustion but his own - leaves him light headed, spinning.

“Hunk?”

“What happened? Was he hit?”

“Hunk!”

The Yellow Lion is lying, unresponsive, a little way away. It looks as exhausted as Hunk had felt - as if all of its energy had been drained along with its pilot’s. There’s no response on the comms.

Shiro comes back to himself with a jolt. “Keith. Help me carry him - we need to get back to the castle.”

It’s awkward - the Yellow Lion is big and unwieldy in Black’s claws - but they make it to the castle and set Yellow down gently in the hangar. When Shiro clambers through Yellow’s half-open mouth, Hunk is, surprisingly, awake in the pilot’s seat, head lolling against his shoulders, heavy-lidded eyes watching Shiro approach through the darkness.

“Hunk?” Shiro asks, quietly. It feels wrong to speak louder than a whisper. “Are you OK?”

Hunk’s head rolls loosely on his shoulders. In the dim light his eyes gleam, white against the dark smudges underneath them. Shiro steps closer to him, hears Lance and Pidge and Keith clatter up the ramp behind him. Feels Lance’s hand on his shoulder as the Blue Paladin strains to see past him.

“Hunk?” Lance’s voice is too loud, too worried, but Hunk doesn’t seem to notice. There’s a flicker of his eyelids, a twitch of his head, but otherwise he barely seems to notice they’re there at all.

“He’s fine,” Shiro says, even though he’s not actually sure if Hunk is. “He just needs to get some rest. Help me get him inside.”

He turns back to Hunk. The Yellow Paladin’s eyes are closed now, chin drooping against his chest. Shiro doesn’t want to wake him up, but he can’t let him sleep here - needs to make sure that Hunk is only tired, not hurt.

He shakes Hunk’s shoulder, gently, and watches as his eyes flutter open, roaming around the cabin before settling on Shiro.

“Hey.” Hunk manages a smile, returning the one Shiro had offered him. “We’re going to get you up Hunk, then you can sleep in a real bed.”

Hunk just hums agreeably, eyelids fluttering again, as if they want to slide shut. He doesn’t protest when Shiro lifts his arm, slipping underneath it and shifting him upright enough for Lance to take his other side. It’s easy enough to lift him to his feet, even though Hunk doesn’t do much to help them out. Shiro could carry him alone if he had to.

“‘M sorry,” Hunk slurs, right in Shiro’s ear. Shiro’s heart clenches - even if he doesn’t agree with Hunk hurting himself like this, he was doing it to help people. The apology leaves a strange sour taste in Shiro’s mouth.

“You don’t need to apologise Hunk. You worked hard to save those people, and it paid off.”

“Yeah,” Lance agrees from Hunk’s other side. “And you finished off that robeast and everything.”

Shiro doesn’t bother taking Hunk down to the medbay: he knows he isn’t injured - not exactly. It’ll be much more comfortable for Hunk to sleep in his own bed.

Lance helps him strip Hunk of his armour, leaving him in the undersuit. It isn’t pyjamas, but it will be considerably more comfortable. Then they settle him in the bed.

Hunk blinks sleepily up at them, cocooned in blankets and looking cozy enough that Shiro feels his own tiredness itching behind his eyes.

“Get some rest Hunk.” He strokes a hand over Hunk’s head, feeling strangely protective. “We’ll see you in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> I struggled with this one for some reason.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed :)
> 
> I have a tumblr at [bearly-writing](https://bearly-writing.tumblr.com/) if you fancy dropping by for a chat, or to request a Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt!


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